Christmas Trees Cost HOW MUCH down here?!?!?

A little background. I lived for years in the land of Christmas tree farms. I also had the great joy of living in a 4000 square foot one hundred year old house and not worrying about the electric bill. Christmas in Snow-ville was an event at my house. In Snow-ville I set up 7 artificial trees every year (the full size kind) and trecked out through the snow with Prince Charming and the Urchins (and often a dog) to cut down 2 live trees in the snow. We would buy "cutting edge trees" (bet you didn't even know they have those ) like Canaan Firs. 2 lovely full trees about 7 foot tall of a specialty type cost about $45 each. And they are lovely.

I now live in the land of "cut your own mesquite trees" and crappy Christmas trees sitting dry and wrapped in netting at WalMart for $60 bucks for a dinky one. YUCK! Unfortunately my hovel lacks storage space. And I am in the place where the money spent on a decent artificial tree would be a big part of my Christmas budget. Plus I live with this belief that 3.5 trees from Snow-ville are eventually going to end up here (or 7, maybe Prince Charming will get his groove back on), so buying a nice tree is just out of the question.

So what is a woman to do? My urchins have these IDEAS about Christmas. You know, ideas like "Christmas trees are a necessity". Fortunately the space of our current hovel dictates that we cut it back to 1 Christmas tree. Unfortunately it is not included in the cost of rent. So, after some intense brain wracking and a couple of whipped cream vodka & sprites, it came to me. I am in Texas. We don't grow Canaan Firs. But we do grow other things. After getting rid of all of the options that have thorns, I was pretty much left with tumble weeds. By the third vodka I could see this coming together. I just need some tumble weeds and some lights and the next thing you know I am Martha Freaking Stuart (she is the only crafter that I know as I am completely not crafty).

So the urchins and I managed to find 3 tumble weeds in a tumble weed scarce year. And we took this:

And turned it into this:

All that artsy Christmas goodness and what did it cost me? Less than $12!!! How cool is that? The urchins and I had a great time doing it and they have both promised me that if they ever have kids they are telling their kids about the year that we made a tree out of weeds. The best thing is that the urchins think that we did this because it was fun and different, they have no idea that this was a financial decision. Funny thing is that we never laughed so much putting up any of those Snow-ville trees. If I have grandkids some day, I am making a tumble weed tree with them. I don't expect anyone that reads this to make a tumble weed tree, but it does go to show that a little creativity can replace quite a few dollars.

It is only scary before you jump!
SingleBrokeMom

No Really - How In The Hell Did I End Up Here?

Welcome to what would once have been my worst nightmare. I am 3 things that I was sure I would never be. Single after getting married. Broke after having had so much. And a mom after... well, you know. It all started long ago...

I was a young woman with a plan. I remember it well because I spent a hell of a lot of time getting one together. If I bothered to marry he was going to be a great man. Educated. Handsome. Check. I was going to move far away from my little home town. Check. I was going to be independent. Check. Have a great career. Check. Money. Check. Travel. Check. And never have kids... oh crap. And that is where life started to change.

We all have our stories of WTH, so I won't bother with mine, but suffice to say after many years of living cross country from my home state, it was time to go back. My 2 female urchins finally got old enough to not need quite so much parenting and the prince wasn't feeling the move (or much else). So I loaded up the SUV and headed back to my home state. Right. I said that. I moved cross country with 2 kids and only what fit in the SUV. OK, maybe my planning isn't what it used to be, but obviously that whole "planning" thing wasn't working out so well for me anyway. It's OK- I googled us up a new home town. Right. I moved to a town that I had never visited. But hey- that is how adventures work.

So now the urchins and I are learning a whole new lifestyle. Come on, follow me on my journey. If you are on the same path I will be happy to share what I have learned. Maybe you can help me along. This is all about hitting the ground running.

It is only scary before you jump!
SingleBrokeMom